There is a lot of confusion among squirrel lovers when it comes to skin diseases suffered by squirrels. I get letters and e-mails all the time about how to treat mange in squirrels. I often have to have them make sure that the squirrel does indeed have Sarcoptic Mange verses a skin condition called 'Dermatophytosis."Sarcoptic Mange is caused by a tiny mite called "Sarcoptes scabiei," that burrows under the skin to feed on the blood of the squirrel. It causes severe itching, a rash, crust formation on the skin and hair loss. The picture on the left shows an Eastern Grey with mange on it's lower back. Notice the red, crusty area in the center of each patch of missing hair. The irritation, rash and crusting of the skin is what differentiates mange from Dermatophytosis. This squirrel would do well by treating it with a small quantity of Ivermectin Paste spread on a Nut Meat. We give approximately 1/2 to 1 drop of Ivermectin 1.87% once a week for 3 weeks to make sure that all active mites and all newly hatched mites are killed. You can order Squirrel Quantities of Ivermectin paste HERE.

The Squirrel on the Left is suffering from a condition called "Dermatophytosis," or a skin fungus. The way you can tell this condition from Mange is the absence of irritation, crusting or rash. There is hair loss, but that is all. Dermatophytosis is caused by a fungus that attacks the shaft of the hair where it emerges from the skin. Since it attacks the hair and causes it to become brittle, the hair breaks off at the skin line and falls off leaving a bald area, but no obvious skin irritation. This condition is common in late Winter and early Spring. The treatment is nutritional support. It's usually not fatal and the squirrel will recover from it over time. Feeding squirrels chunks of raw coconut and raw coconut oil can help, because the Lauric Acid and Capric Acid in the raw coconut oil is anti-fungal. In captivity, I spray a strong solution of Colloidal Silver and apply Raw Coconut Oil topically to this condition also. You can obtain Colloidal Silver and Raw Coconut Oil on our Squirrel Mall Page.

My baby squirrel has lost her hairs on he chest n face region she has been put on local ointment by the vet there is also crust formation but no itching she has also grown weak but having proper feeds what do I do?

Hi Saba!
Since a Vet has seen the squirrel, I would assume that the ointment is probably a topical steroid, which may or may not help. Did he or she give you a diagnosis?

I've found that hair loss in squirrels, that does not involve the Sarcoptic Mange Itch Mites, is either caused by a fungus that attacks the hair shaft, ( Dermatophytosis,) or malnutrition. A way to treat both of these naturally, is to improve the nutrition of your squirrel.

You did not mention the age of your squirrel, or what you were feeding. I would recommend that you read my blog post about "Should I Feed My Squirrel Commercial Formula," And decide if there are things you could do to improve formula nutrition.

If your squirrel is in the process of weaning or has weaned, and you used commercial formula, you may notice that your squirrel's hair is very dry and dull in appearance. If this is the case, the squirrel's skin will also lack enough natural oils to keep the hair soft and naturally shiny.

You can treat this condition two ways, topically, and by diet modification. I'm a big advocate of Raw Coconut Oil. You can do a Tahitian Hair Treatment on your squirrel. Give your baby a warm bath. While wet, take a chunk of raw coconut oil and melt it in your hand, ( coconut oil melts at 73 degrees F.) Wet the baby with the melted coconut oil, then wrap him or her in a warm towel and hold him for 15 to 30 minutes. ( Note: apply a warm rice bag or heating pad around the outside of the towel to keep the coconut wet squirrel very warm during this phase.) Make sure you get coconut oil on the areas of hair loss. Don't worry about getting it in his mouth or eyes, it will not hurt him. After the alloted time, put him back in the bath and gently wash the majority of the coconut oil out of the hair with baby shampoo. Then use a hair dryer to dry his fur.

Raw coconut oil is a medium chain fatty acid which makes it an excellent trans-dermal,( will soak into the skin.) this is what you want to happen because trans-dermals are also carrier mediums. That is, they carry whatever they contain below the surface of the skin.

It is very important that the coconut oil you use is Raw, and has not been hydrogenated. Coconut oil that has been processed in this way, has had two, very important components destroyed. These are Capric Acid and Lauric Acid.. If you Google these two components of Raw Coconut Oil, you will find that between the two of them, they are anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti- fungal. That means that they have been found to destroy bacteria, viruses and fungus. If the hair loss in your squirrel is caused by any of these, a topical treatment will definitely help.

If you follow it up with dietary treatment, using raw coconut,( take a regular coconut in the shell and drain the milk, break it apart, and feed the coconut meat. If you have a nursing baby, add a few drops, to a half a cc, depending on the age of the squirrel,to each feeding. Lauric Acid is converted by the liver to monolauren, which is the substance in breast milk responsible for giving newborn babies resistance to disease until their immune system gets established.

Giving raw coconut and raw coconut oil internally is one of the natural treatments I use on my squirrels to treat most squirrel conditions. I'm also a big proponent of using Ionic Silver, both topically and internally, for any bacterial condition or wound.

Feeding avocado is another natural way to improve a squirrel's nutrition status and hair/skin conditions.

Squirrels need an abundance of natural oils in their oil glands and hair follicles to have healthy hair and itch free skin. I often tell skeptics a way that they can prove that squirrels exude a lot of oil in their skin and hair is by the following method: Feed a squirrel two halves of a pecan nut meat 4 times a day for two weeks, then pick up the squirrel and smell them. Guess what, they smell like a pecan! The oil in the pecan comes out in the skin and hair follicle glands of the squirrel, and makes them smell like a pecan.

Hey there! i have just recently taken in an orphaned squirrel. When I initially found him he was quite lethargic and weak. I've had him for about two and a half weeks now and he has made a huge recovery. I have been feeding him esbilac powdered puppy milk (what is your oppinion regarding the product?)which was recommended by a number of website regarding squirrel care. My concern though is that he has recently began itching himself quite a bit, and i have also noticed hair loss especially around his mouth and front legs. i haven't noticed any scaling or wounds. From what i can tell he is about 5-7 weeks. what would you recommend to treat him. Please let me know asap as i would really like to help the little guy out!

I think you will find the answers to most of your questions by reading the blog question from Saba that is right above yours.

Also, there is a blog article titled: " Should I Feed My Baby Squirrel Commercial Formula?"

You can enter my Blog by going to my website, http://SquirrelNutrition.com and clicking on the BLOG tab at the top of the page.

Your squirrel is probably itching because your formula does not contain enough of the right kind of fatty acids. Commercial Formula is basically Skim Milk, vitamins and fillers. If your squirrel were only on commercial formula, it would probably have a lot more problems than you are experiencing.

I'm assuming you are adding cream to your formula. That is probably the only thing that is nourishing your squirrel! I would encourage you to read the above mentioned articles!

Thanks for writing!

Bill

Reply

Lia

10/30/2013 1:40pm

I rescued a 4 or 5 week old grey squirrel about two months ago, and has seemed to be ok besides a few downfall. For about the past two weeks she has been losing a lot of hair, which has been real scabby. Do you have any suggestions on what it could be and how I could treat it?

If there are scabs, it is probably mange, (itch mites.) A drop of puppy flea drops on the back of the neck should take care of it. Be careful handling it with bare hands, they can transmits to humans. You can repeat the drop of flea drops every week until it clears.

You can contact me direct at SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com if you have other questions.

Thanks for writing!

Bill

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Jessie

11/01/2013 11:21am

Hey,
I have a 9 month squirrel named Gus and I've been reading on the squirrel board to figure out why his fur is dull and patchy. I can't quite figure it out. I've read some of the replies on this post, but I am still uncertain.
There are no bald spots, no sores, but he itches and upon closer inspection it looked like he had dandruff, and when I scratched his back, a little bit of fur came off. Again, there are no bald spots or irritated skin, he just has "normal" hair (longer fur with golden tips) in some areas, and short gray fuzzy hair in others. I've read that it can be molting, but they say his fur will be pretty in a couple weeks. Well, it's been a couple months. I just wasn't sure if he was taking longer than others. He was a late bloomer since he was the runt.

He eats Katyee Rodent Blocks right now. I've ordered Henry's Adult Squirrel Blocks and they should be here soon, and I'm hoping that will help give him the proper squirrel nutrients. He gets corn, green beans, peas, and carrots (both thawed and raw baby carrots) daily. For fruit, he mostly eats blueberries, bananas, apples, grapes, strawberries, and mangos. He'll get a couple pieces of whatever I have on hand. For other veggies I have on hand, he'll eat broccoli, snap peas, lettuce (rarely, not a favorite), asparagus, tomatoes, and celery. For snacks he likes the "wildlife" bags of hard corn kernels, black sunflower seeds, and plain peanuts. He also gets a corner of whole wheat bread crust/homemade bread, or a part of a Kashi whole wheat cracker from time to time. He's very spoiled!

He goes outside occasionally. I have a screened in back porch that I just let him loose on and he gets SOME sun, but unfortunately, the back porch is shady 80% of the time. Other times he'll be on the side covered porch where he gets a lot more sun, but he stays in his cage for obvious reasons, even more obvious when a hawk landed on his cage two weeks ago!!! Thank goodness I was doing some work right next to the porch door to hear the giant thud from outside. I opened the door and the hawk flew off into a near by tree! So since then, he hasn't been on the covered porch. :)

I'm just wondering if something is missing in his diet (sun or food?) or if he has a skin condition.

Sounds like Gus needs more fat in his diet to improve the condition of his skin. Avocado, Pecans, Filberts all have good Omega Fatty Acids that will improve and supply the right kind of oils to help this skin condition. I would start feeding him Avocado every day!

Just to make sure that he doesn't have lice, fleas or itch mites contributing to the problem, I would use a drop of any kitten or puppy flea drops on the back of his neck once a week for a couple weeks.

He also should be getting a daily Nut Square to supply calcium and other necessary vitamins to his diet.

If you are feeding any salted nuts, stop those because excessive salt make squirrel hair thin out.

Last, but not least, start feeding him chunks of raw coconut in the shell daily. I buy a whole coconut, drain the milk, and break it open. I peel the meat out and cut it into chunks and freeze it in the freezer. I get a few pieces out daily and feed it to my resident blind squirrel, "Lucky." I call them her coconut popsicles.

There is one more skin treatment that you can use, ( depending on how cooperative the squirrel is.)

Take Raw Coconut Oil and melt it and apply it liberally to the squirrel's hair, completely soaking the squirrel's hair and skin. Wrap the squirrel in a towel and over wrap with a heating pad or warm rice bag for at least 20 minutes, then shampoo the oil out with baby shampoo. This is called a Tahitian Hair Treatment and does wonders for the hair and the skin.

I hope these suggestions help! Let me know how things are going. You can contact me direct at SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com.

Best Regards,

Bill

Reply

Frank Parmelee

12/06/2013 8:11am

I am seeing squirrels with Dermatophytosis in my yard. Is there a way I can help them with this disease?

If your Squirrels are tame enough for you to be able to give each a half of a nut meat, you should be able to get them treated. It's a "crap shoot" if you can't get them together all at once because you will need to put Ivermectin on the Nut Meat, and you don't want to double dose them.

I would probably try to live trap any in my yard and place them in my large release cage and treat them until they were cured. But, that's probably not possible for you.

So, here's what I would do: Pick a day to feed medicated nuts every week. Go out and feed one nut to as many as you can, then stop. The next week, go out and do the same. Those that have been treated will start to get better. As you see some squirrels starting to get their hair back, feed those a medicated nut one more time, then only feed the ones that still have active mites and hair loss. It's a process of elimination. Eventually, you'll get them all treated and improving.

The problem is, you cannot do mass feeding by placing a bunch of treated nuts out on a feeder. Because the first squirrel to show up will eat them all and overdose.

You can check with a Veterinarian as to how much Ivermectin to give each squirrel. I'm not a Veterinarian, so I cannot prescribe. If you send me an e-mail, I can tell you what I do, but again, the disclaimer is that what I do is in no way a recommendation for what you do! SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com ........Bill

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Bonnie

12/11/2013 3:37am

I have a hairless little squirrel. He can run jump with no problem. He just found me yesterday and has decided my yard is great. I feed every single squirrel that shows up in my yard. I have not been able to get to close yet. It takes a few days. He learned his names in 20 minutes. He is very cute and smart. The others try to chase him. I do not allow fighting or cruelty in my yard. He has no fur anywhere. he is a furless critter. My squirrels eat raw nuts Pecans, Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Hickory, Acorns, Brazil Nuts . All nuts are in a shell. I put out fruit and they look at me like I am crazy. They will eat Sunflower seeds. I buy bulk nuts from nuts.com. I feed about 60 squirrels a day. I need to know what to do for this little critter. I do not think he is a baby he just looks small because he has no fur at all . If he survives it will take a few days for him to come close to me. All the critters in my yard have a name and they come when I call them. This little squirrel will watch the others ones and will follow them. I can single out my critters and give them medicine, because they all eat from my hand. I have no sick squirrels or and with fur problems until this little critter found me. What should I do about his fur.? Bonnie

Could you take a picture of your hairless squirrel and send it to me at : SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com? If I could see what it looks like, I could probably better advise you..........Bill

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Sage

12/11/2013 6:51am

Hi there,
I'e rescued a baby squirrel two summers ago and released him to my backyard where there are lots of mature trees and lots of squirrel families. His name is Charlie. :) He came back just before last winter with a hurt paw, so I kept him through the winter in one of my bedroom with an open cage and last Spring I released him again. He was coming to my patio door climbing up to the screen door, getting some nuts from me and go away again and he was fine until last November, I realized that there was wound on his back like bite marks or Dermatophytosis. That part is totally hairless. I am not so sure what it was, so I put his old cage out again and he went inside the cage, now he is in his old room again. I started putting on his back some Polysporin, I am assuming it is so itchy that he is scratching so bad and make one part bleeding. After I've read here, I've ordered Collodial or Ionic Silver from the Squirrel Mall. I don't want to leave him outside since it's winter and lots of snow out there. I don't know what to do either. I don't want him die. Please advise me. Many Thanks in advance. .

If the squirrel in question is a male, he is being picked on by other males trying to drive him out of their territory. They can be quite brutal and will kill him if they get the chance. Since he is returning to you, about the only thing you could do for him would be to have him neutered. This would take the testosterone out of his urine and the other males would not consider him a threat. The trick would be, finding a Vet willing to neuter him.

It's unusual for a male to return to a human care giver. He must really love you and trust you!

I have a squirrel (Peanut) was orphaned as a baby 3 years ago and I have reared her. I recently was rubbing her stomach which I do often, and found a knot or mass, it has come about very recent. The vet I use is out of town for a family emergency, I have attempted to look on like to find probable causes or ideas as to what it is. any ideas.

Not being able to see or feel the knot I really could not comment on what it might be. It could be a hernia, but if it does not seem to be painful for the squirrel, it can probably wait until your Vet returns!

Bill

Reply

vicki white

01/07/2014 3:35pm

there are a couple of wild squirrels coming around my patio that appear to have mange. i have a "pet" squirrel that i rescued that is wild but tame with me. she hasn't exhibited any symptoms to date. i am wondering if i can email you a photo to look at, i just learned that this could be passed on to my cats or even my husband and I. i do feed the neighborhood squirrels to the chagrin of my neighbors. what should i do, did i create a problem for myself? i am mortified. thank you, vicki

Sure, I'll take a look at the pictures of your squirrel skin problems and comment on them. Send them to SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com.

Thanks!

Bill

Reply

Lisa

01/11/2014 11:42am

I have a squirrel that has no hair on his tail. Also I noticed one squirrel's tail is not very bushy. Also one squirrel does not have a tail at all (although I think that might be a different reason - such as somehow cut off). It appears that the squirrels are health and no apparent sores or hair loss anywhere else. Is this Dermatophytosis?

Thinning tail hair is usually due to Nutritional Deficiency. High salt intake will cause a squirrel's hair to thin, that's why I recommend to not feed salted nuts.

Missing tails are usually due to squirrel squabbles. Squirrels are territorial and will chase other squirrels out of their territory. Tail hair does get pulled out when another squirrel is chasing it. Sometimes, a squirrel will get it's tail bit when it is being chased by another squirrel. If the bite is bad enough, it sometimes cuts off circulation of blood to the tail distal to the bite. If this happens, that segment of tail will die and drop off. This can effect a squirrel's ability to balance, but they quickly learn to adapt. A squirrel with a shortened tail is more likely to suffer injury in a fall, because the tail does slow the speed at which they fall when they do lose their grip while climbing. ( Squirrels do fall out of trees, but it's rare.)

Thanks for writing!

Bill

Reply

Thiwanka Chathuranga

01/30/2014 5:59pm

Hi guys. Im not going to speak about any skin disease, so pardon me if i came to the wrong place. But please help me if you can caz this is urgent. I found a hurt baby squirrel in my roof. There is a small bite mark on his right leg and the leg has become large. I think its a mouse bite. Another baby squirrel was brutally murdered. What should i give my baby squirrel? He has a little hair and has not opened eyes yet. Please answer fast. Btw im from sri lanka so when suggesting medicine please don't use the brand name. Use the common name. Thanks. Sorry for my English.

Thanks for writing. Liquid penicillin either 125mg per 5ml or 250mg per 5ml. Give 0.1cc 3 to 4 times a day for 10 days. Be sure to give plain yogurt with active live cultures 1/2cc three times a day to prevent diarrhea from the penicillin . It sounds like the baby has cellulitis from the bite, so it is very important to get the squirrel on it as soon as possible to prevent generalized sepsis.

Bill

Reply

Deborah

02/01/2014 6:06am

Dear Bill,
I just want to say how wonderful you are. Such a fabulous resource with a heart! I'm sure I speak for everyone...THANK YOU so very much.
Deborah

Thank-you so much, Deborah! Squirrels are my passion and all that I do for them is a labor of love!........Bill

Reply

Renée

02/19/2014 9:33pm

William, I just got so lucky. I found your site. Its so nice to see that so many other share our passion. I want to let you know how awesome i think you are to devote your time and knowledge to people like me who want to help these beautiful little guys and dont know where to start!! I have a grey "cat" squirrel named Pasquallie. We rescued him at one week of age. For two months he spent almost all day of every day in my sports bra. Lol! He'd eat and crawl back in my shirt. The only time he slept in his little box was at night. Ha! He had my heart at first sight. He is now one year and seven months. Spoiled rotten. He thinks he is the man of the house. He is an inside squirrel. I dont think he could survive if I had to release him. keeping him inside all the time wasn't the plan in the beginning. He is so loving and affectionate. He can also get aggrevated and bite me too when he gets frustrated because I can't understand what he is trying to show me or tell what he wants. He doesnt bite hard 99 0/0 of the time but I know what its like to have those teeth go to the bone too.. He's amazing. You can tell what he is wanting or thinking abt doing by his gestures. I love when he cuddles and bathes himself on me then tries to bath my hands and arms. He lays there cuddles on me or my husband sometimes taking a nap. It truly touches my heart and soul to see the love and trust he has for me. I never imaged in my life I could be head over heals deeply in love and bonded to a squirrel. People dont give them enough credit. They are so intelligent. I tried to raise another baby but pasquallie wasn't having any part of it.
We have been blessed with a healthy little fellow. He eats sweet potato green beans broccoli avocados sliced fresh corn on cob, well everything is cut up fresh for him daily. We and carrots apples and other veggies and fruits to switch up but the first five he eats almost every day. Im looking forward to trying coconut. Idk you could feed them that. Its also nice to know abt the salt. Usually the only salt intake he has is on a cracker I already tried to scrape off or a cashew or mixed nut only when weve bought some for ourselves.
I did notice yesterday between his back legs and scrotum area the skin looked really pink. It was kinda moist in tthat area so I washed it with just water and blew on it and patted it dry. Today there are little bumps that seem to have spreAd thru that pink area. So I patted it dry and added hydroquatizone cream to it. After I did that I though abt checking online for answers to see if its bad for them and if I should wash it off when it comes to him I get worried over the smallest things. As you can see n the pic that yes he is over weight and when he sits like that we pick on him and call him Buddha Buddha ha! So idk if it could be a yeast thing because that area stays moist or the skin is just a little irritated and moist because he a little husky. What do you think. He is my third son. I have two human boys 21 and 16. But pasquallie will alwAys be the baby no matter his age. Ha! I really admire you taking your time to help people like me who love the little furry friends and want to help but are clueless. Ill send you pics in a seperate email of pasquallie. Idk how to attach it to this. William you are so awesome!

Sorry it took so long to get back to you! If the cortizone cream doesn't help, I would try a little raw coconut oil on it. It has to be non-hydrogenated coconut oil, otherwise all the good stuff in it has been destroyed. The best way to tell is to smell the oil. It should smell just like fresh coconut. The kind we carry on our website is from Wilderness Family, and it is the best coconut oil I have ever found!...Bill

Hi
There is a squirrel that is very tame in my garden and today i noticed that he has a bold patch above his arms. There is also a fox in the garden who i am currently treating with Mange and at first i thought that it was mange but after reading your article it sounds like it is the fungus instead as there is no redness or scabbyness. is it possible for the redness and scabs to come later?
samsang

When in doubt, go ahead and treat like it was mange. If it is not mange, the squirrel will get better on it's own. With treatment you will at least get rid of any intestinal parasites. It's a win-win for the squirrel!

Bill

Reply

Louise Poundstone

03/15/2014 8:55am

Love all the info !

Reply

Roy Ds

03/19/2014 5:45am

Hi,

I have a pet Indian Palm Squirrel (Funambulus palmarum). Last week I could find that on his right and leg there are two hairless patches.

Please help me. If needed i can provide photograph for the same.

Thanks in advance.

Reply

Carol Cooper

04/02/2014 3:56pm

Thanks for your interesting blog. We have wild squirrels who come to a feeder attached to our window and who don't care if we (or our cats) get right up next to the window to observe them. One of them has a skin condition which, after reading your blog, I think I can identify as dermatophytosis. So, off to find some raw coconut oil. Unfortunately I can't order it from you as I'm in Canada. I'm relieved to work out what the disease is, and now that spring is coming he's likely to recover - he's fat and healthy-looking, having visited my bird feeders all winter!
One comment - there's what I think is a persistent typo in your blog - you mention 'collodial silver', but of course it's 'colloidal silver'.
Anyway, our squirrels thank you.

Reply

andrew

04/24/2014 10:10am

Hi I rescued a baby squirrel. Today after the box fell out of the tree and killed the mom she's a sleep in my work jumper and I think she's 4/5/6 weeks old can she eat on her own and drink on her own I've got her in a cage now nice and warm but need answers asap as im allways working and haven't got time to feed her every 2 hours

What specific questions do you have? You can write and ask them at SquirrelNutrition@yahoo.com.

Bill

Reply

William Stoute

04/25/2014 11:04am

We discovered a very sick, weak squirrel with massive hair loss and lessions on the back. Other squirrel has been identified with hair loss on the ears and crusty skin.
I read in your blog to treat mange with flea drops for dogs or cats.
Are you referring to a product like "Frontline Plus" for dogs.
If so, how many drops should I apply to the back of the neck on the squirrel that with the affected ears.
(The other squirrel, is obviously beyond repair, even though he appears to be not that old and has been Isolated from the possibility of becoming in contact with any other animals wild or domestic)
Please contact me ASAP. Thank you.

If you are talking wild squirrels, it is better to use Ivermectin paste, because you are not going to be able to get close enough to put a drop of flea drops on a wild one.

We use kitten flea drops on our babies with mange, one drop on the back of the neck. The drops are much safer for baby squirrels.

Bill

Reply

Lisa Waldrop

04/27/2014 2:51pm

Ive got a squirrel thats almost completely bald on his body but not his tail and another whose bald on his tail but not his body. My husband drove down our alley and noticed the squirrels a block away are the same way. I started the ivermectin paste on the lil guys and now im wondering if theres not a serious issue in our area. Our dirt is very soft like a black sandy substance and has even started causing issues with our dogs and allergies. Weve lived here almost 3yrs and it started last summer and our property is the biggest around here in the city so i thought maybe i could put a big platter of cookies with the paste on them once a week and try to treat them all for the next 3 weeks. If they get more than a little dose like you say will it hurt them? Ive ordered your nut squares/balls and waiting to get your recipe for the biscuits so if you could give me a little advice on the treatment of this issue going on id be so grateful. Thanks so so much for whatever you may be able to help me with, Lisa Waldrop a squirrel lover like yourself

It's dangerous to put out a bunch of treated nuts on a feeder, because the first squirrels there would eat them all and overdose and die. If you can't individually feed, it is better to scatter treated nuts around your property. It's highly unlikely that one squirrel would be able to find and eat them all.

Another way is to pick a day of the week and only feed treated nuts to as many different affected squirrels as possible. Then, wait a week, and do the same thing. Eventually, you will get a majority of the affected squirrels treated.

You see more squirrels with mange at this time of year because over the cold months of the year, squirrels gather together in dens and sleep together to keep warm. So, if one squirrel has mange, it passes it on to others. Mange won't kill a squirrel, it just makes them look ugly until some kind person, like yourself, comes along and helps them get better.

As the weather gets warmer, they do less sleeping together, so the spreading of the mange slows down.

Bill

Reply

Lisa Waldrop

04/27/2014 2:54pm

Im so sorry i have another question, could you tell me how to give them the coconut oil and avocado? Ways theyll eat it and like it? Thanks our friend Lisa W.

I just feed avocado in small chunks. Most squirrels like avocado, but you will find a few who don't. They have their individual likes and dislikes.

Same with raw coconut oil. It is a solid below 76 degrees F. I just feed small chunks. I also use fresh coconut right out of the nut shell. Again, some will eat and some won't.

We put a lost of fresh raw coconut oil in all of our nut square mixes and kits.

Bill

Reply

Jessica

05/05/2014 3:29pm

Hi!
I have a female squirrel that I raised from infancy, she has been free now for about a year and doing fantastic, looking very healthy and coming to visit a few times a week for some nut treats. Until a few weeks ago, I noticed that her teeth had fallen out, or something, it's hard to see, (she was chewing using her molars) and she was coming by more and more frequently for food. Now, she is here every morning and acts kinda neurotic, we figured it was because of her teeth issues. Meaning that she needed us to get her food and was desperate. Lately, her hair is falling out and her tummy is very red and irritated looking, she is itching fanatically. Her nose looks a little scaly. She is being SUPER picky about what she eats. Only walnuts and avocado will due. I was guessing that she wasn't getting enough nutrients and this was causing her immune system to be compromised? But she will NOT eat anything else I try to give her. Help :) !!!

It's highly unusual for a young squirrel to lose teeth. Normally, a squirrels incisors grow for the first 7 to 8 years before slowing and stopping.

If she has really irritated skin and some scabs or scales, it sound more like mange than a immune system problem. I would try treating with Ivermectin for a couple of weekly doses.

Squirrels can break their teeth much in the same ways humans do, through trauma. Whereas a human has to go to a dentist to get broken teeth fixed, a squirrel has to wait for the teeth to regrow. In the meantime, they could be quite distressed by not being to eat normally.

All I can say is that if you have a captive squirrel, hunger is a powerful motivator to get a squirrel to try other foods.

The hardest thing I ever did was put my blind squirrel on a diet of 100 calories per day. It's so easy to give them what they like, and they fall into a pattern of only eating what they like. For me, it was overfeeding my blind squirrel. She would eat all I gave her, probably from boredom, but being blind, she was not getting enough exercise to burn off all the calories she was consuming.

So, I had to exercise tough love, and restrict her intake of food. It's the same with getting a squirrel to try other foods. You have to withhold what they are used to eating, and only offer the food you want them to try. Hunger is a powerful motivator. Withholding food will not kill your squirrel, but hunger will drive them to try new things.

Squirrels are very much like little kids. Given the choice, they will only eat what they like to the exclusion of everything else. That's what makes it tough to feed them right when they are released. If the neighbors are feeding them junk food, it's nearly impossible to get them to eat healthy!

Hi William,
I raised Chelsea, a red squirrel, from the age of two weeks, last August 2013 and then released her a few months later, in November. She gave birth to 4 babies this passed April and has been looking great until I saw her today. At first I thought she just looks run down and aged from being a young mamma of 6 mths old.but then I noticed the fur on her on her forehead was thinned, I saw a bald raw spot at the base of her tail, where it meets her lower back and another little raw area. She has lost a lot of her red color and looks very grey now.( I do have pics that I took today). She's actually looking very aged when I compare these pics to pics I took 3 weeks ago. I also noticed she was scratching like crazy. I'm assuming, from what I have read here, that it is most probably Dermatophytosis.I will follow some of the suggestions and hope that she starts to heal....unless you suggest otherwise. Thank you, ali

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Janet Blain

05/27/2014 6:55am

Our dog was chewing on a grey squirrel that had died in our yard. the squirrel was bald in some places, but what was worse, was the hard yellow growth that was all along it's back and down one leg. It almost looked like a wild mushroom. Is my dog at risk since she was chewing on this squirrel?

I think your dog will be OK. I don't know what was growing on the squirrel, but it sounds like it had been dead for a while. I don't know what the attraction is to dead and decomposing animals by dogs, other than they make them stink when they roll on them!

Hello,
I'm happy to find a place where maybe could help me.
Regularly, I leave some food for wild red squirrels in a garden (hazelnuts and walnuts. Not almonds since i read that it can contains Cyanide). This is in Catalonia (Spain, mediterranean coast)
I saw some of them with something wrong in the ears, like beeing bitten (please see a picture at https://www.flickr.com/photos/antarc/6742827955/in/set-72157627706571846 ). I think that i saw different individuals with this in the last two years.
Have you seen it before? It's really bitten by other squirrels or a disease?
On the other hand, Could you recommend me some additional nutritional food for wild red squirrels?
I thank you in advance your opinion.
Regards, Toni

Squirrels get ears bitten all the time in territorial squabbles, It's normal, especially in red squirrels.

If you send a request to squirrelnutrition@yahoo.com, I'll send you our food lists for squirrels!

Bill

Reply

Justin

06/16/2014 5:48pm

Hi,
We recently found this abandoned squirrel by its mother and it's very happy to be in our care (so it seems). But there's an issue. There are small clumps of white bits growing on the squirrel and we do not know what it could be. Could anyone help us out please? Thanks so much.
Regards, Justin

Hi Justin!
Have you ruled out maggots? Baby squirrels often have maggots or fly larvae covering a wound. Maggots eat dead or necrotic tissue in wounds, and actually do a service by keeping the wound debrided. I would give the squirrel a bath in Blue Dawn dishwashing liquid. Blue Dawn will kill fleas and lice also. Gently scrub off the white bits, and if there is a wound under them, apply Neosporin or Raw coconut oil. A close up picture would be of great help. You could send it to SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com.

I have a squirrel I am trying to nurse back to normality after being diagnosed with Squirrel Pox. He had pink lumps that have developed into dark hardened legions that he is now biting and chewing off leaving flesh below that he is licking. I feel he is trying to remove the dead Pox cells from his body but I am unsure. I did put healing cream and breathable bandages to cover up the exposed flesh so he doesnt hurt himself further by biting the soft tissue. Im unsure if this is his natural defense against the dead skin. My question is, is it safe for him to be chewing into this dead skin. Should I let him continue, thanks. FYI, he is a 1 year old rescue named John Wayne

I don't have experience with squirrel pox since I don't live in an area where we see this condition. What I know, is what I've read and studied about this condition.

From what I've read, it is a viral condition with no known cure. The pox are disfiguring and annoying for the squirrel and can arise from any tissue in the body, including internal organs. If a pox forms on brain tissue or a vital organ, it is almost always fatal.

As to the squirrel chewing and biting them, this is normal behavior for a squirrel. They know it is not supposed to be there, and will remove it themselves. As to potential infections, I do know that squirrel bites do not get infected. I've been bitten deeply and have never had a squirrel bite get infected. I believe it is something in their saliva, but have no way of proving it other than my own experience and observations.

What can be done for the squirrel? If you believe in conventional medicine, about all you will get is a bunch of hype about treating it like a cancer. They would treat the symptom with a bunch of toxic chemicals that would destroy the squirrels immune system and weaken him to the point that any minor infection would kill him.

We live in a cause and effect world. If you stick your hand in a fire, you get burned. If you look at disease from a cause and effect standpoint, you don't primarily treat symptoms, although that is a part. You try to find a possible cause and try to correct that. If you figure out a cause and remove it, the body has an amazing capacity for healing itself. It makes no sense to knock out the primary way a body protects itself, (the immune system,) to treat a problem.

If squirrel pox is viral, I would do two things. I would get as much raw coconut oil as I could into the squirrel. Good raw coconut oil has over 50% concentration of two vital substances, Lauric Acid and Capric Acid. Both have been proven to be potent anti bacterial, anti viral and anti fungal agents. These substances are destroyed if the oil has been refined, processed or hydrogenated. So it must be good, cold pressed coconut oil that is made from fresh coconut meat.

Second, I would start giving the squirrel a drop of Carnivora two to three times a day for two weeks, then a drop per day thereafter. This is a substance made from the sap of the Venus Fly Trap plant. It has been found to boost the immune system tremendously. When it first came out, former president Reagan was taking it while in the White House when he learned he had developed a cancer. Notice, when he died, he didn't die of cancer, and he never had cancer surgery.

I can't guarantee that this would do anything for squirrel pox, because I have never treated a squirrel with this problem. If I did, these are the two substances I would use. I would also apply the coconut oil directly to the lesions, especially those the squirrel had chewed on.

Hope this helped!

Bill

Reply

Crystal

06/19/2014 3:46am

Good Morning,

I rescued a grey squirrel 3 springs back. He has a giant cage and run of the house most of the day.

Tonight around 3 in the morning I woke up because he cried out. Checking on him he has some hair missing on his belly. It is not crusty but is a little red. He also has a gash on one arm where it looks like he has bitten himself. I think it is most likely mange. Do I will be purchasing the treatment. My question is how do I help my little boy in the mean time?

You didn't say, but I'm going to assume that your squirrel only stays in your house. If that's the case, his chances of having mange are slim to none. Since he is a pet, I assume you are able to handle him. If you want to try to treat for mange, you can, and it won't hurt your squirrel, but since your squirrel is in captivity, you do not need the Ivermectin. It would be much safer for you to use one drop of any puppy flea drops on the back of his neck. If it is itch mites, that will kill them along with any fleas or other bug he may have picked up. If you have already ordered Ivermectin from me, and would like to go the flea drop route,( which I recommend,) just let me know and I'll issue a refund through PayPal.

As I said before, I'm not convinced that what you are seeing is due to any bugs. It would be helpful if you could send a picture of what you are seeing on your squirrel so that I could better advise what it might be. You can correspond with me direct at SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com.

Thanks for writing!

Bill

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Justin

06/19/2014 4:18pm

Thanks to everyone who commented and helped me out! The blue dove soap wash worked and he's healthy and eating fine now! To everyone else who replied, thanks for the responses and it's greatly appreciated!

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Justin Greene

06/19/2014 4:19pm

Thanks to everyone who commented and helped me out! The blue dove soap wash worked and he's healthy and eating fine now! To everyone else who replied, thanks for the responses and it's greatly appreciated! The maggots are gone and its skin is healing

Reply

Justin Greene

06/19/2014 4:19pm

Thanks to everyone who commented and helped me out! The blue dove soap wash worked and he's healthy and eating fine now! To everyone else who replied, thanks for the responses and it's greatly appreciated! The maggots are gone and its skin is healing. Thank you!

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bev hunnicutt

06/22/2014 6:33am

can the squirrels mommy and daddy carry skin mites from them? not the ones from the mange the other? do squirrels reguire bright sunlight if they kept indoors for any kind of vitamins? Fred is in my living room and receives sun as it comes thru the windows.

Hi Bev!
I'm not sure what you are asking, but I will attempt an answer. Mange, or itch mites are just like scabies, and are transmitted by close body contact. So, yes, they can be carried by the mother and transmitted to her babies.

If you are talking about the hair fungus or Dermatophytosis, the fungus can be transmitted from squirrel to squirrel also. When my resident blind squirrel, who is indoors and caged part of the time, got it, I believe that I transmitted it via my clothing. I had some very friendly released squirrels at the time that would sit on my shoulders when I was out feeding them. I think they carried the fungus onto me, and I transported it into the house so that when Lucky would sit on my shoulder, she picked it up.

Squirrels do require direct sunlight to synthesize Vitamin D. It needs to be direct sunlight, (not through glass,) to work. That's why we recommend that #1. They not be kept as pets and should be released when they are old enough. and. #2. We put Cod Liver Oil in our Nut Square mixes to help supplement some Vitamin D in their diet.

We take our resident blind squirrel out into the sunlight as often as we can, but it becomes very difficult in winter. A full spectrum light, (grow light,) can help, but there is no good substitute for the sun.

A really good diet is required to keep a squirrel healthy as well as a daily source of calcium. Lots of exercise is also necessary to keep them from becoming fat. An overweight and under exercised caged squirrel is prone to an number of problems as we have found out over the past six years with our blind squirrel. In addition to having a constant struggle trying to keep her weight under control, she has had urinary tract infections, fluid retention, hormone problems and gets quite bored from being inactive. The hormone problem recently required that she have her uterus and ovaries removed, and that has given her a ravenous appetite. That adds to the potential weight problem, so she is not very happy with me restricting her food intake.

I understand a gray squirrel molts twice a year, once from top to bottom, the other time from bottom to top. If a squirrel's tail whiskers burned off in a fire, would they grow back during molting or never grow back? I don't know of this occurring to a squirrel but am writing a story in which this occurs and would like to be accurate in the telling. Thanks! Linda

I've had an un-releasable squirrel for the last six years, and I'm only aware of one molting or shedding time per year. Right after the coldest of weather breaks, usually in March, they start to shed. In the early years of our squirrel's captivity, the tail would get really sparse during the shedding time and look awful. A couple of years ago, I discovered that hair quality in squirrels, is directly related to diet. I started feeding oil rich Avocado to my captive squirrel every day, starting in August. The following June, ( when new hair growth starts in squirrels,) her hair and tail came in more beautiful than I had ever seen, Throughout the past year she has maintained a beautiful and soft coat. On the 11th. of June, right on time her new hair started growing again. Her tail hairs grows long and become variegated with subtle shades of gray, white and black highlights.

In late Fall, during the month of October, all the well fed squirrels put on a layer of fat, and their body coat hair thickens with an undergrowth of Winter fur. My captive squirrel looks rather funny, because being inside the house, her winter coat resembles a turtle shell on her back and doesn't grow dense all over.

To answer your question about tail hair being burned off, it would grow back during the month of June as long as the hair follicles were not damaged from being burned.

As I said before, the quality of their hair is dependent upon their nutrition status. It is also effected by their intake of salt. ( Too much salt causes a squirrel to excessively shed hair.)

In our facility, we've taken care of starving babies. The one thing that is universally characteristic in a starvation situation is that their hair quits growing and falls out. Apparently, to preserve protein, the hair follicles shut down and the hair quits growing and falls out. It takes about a month of high quality nutrition to get the hair to regrow. In the meantime, they are naked as a Jaybird except for tufts of hair on their head and on their feet.

I hope this information is helpful, and that your story is a huge success!

Reply

bev

07/06/2014 5:50pm

i have a 16 month old male gray squirrel. I was a rehabber of wild animals thru my local zoo years ago. I know the routine and all. I got him bigger cage a few months back. Friday i got a baby robin and put it in squirrels old smaller cage. Since then he seems to getting aggressive over this bird in cage. Got to cage and wouldn't get back in his cage. I can't release him here and dont know anyone in the country to do it. I have 5 weiner dogs and one is a true blue hunter for the breed. NOTHING lives in the back yard so I can't release him here. He has bite me only a couple times since i have had him. But he got me good today. He chatters and raises his backside and grabs my arm and hand more aggressively . I'm ready to keep him for the long haul, but after today I dont know. I've thought of having him fixed maybe to calm him. Any suggestions? Thanks

Your squirrel is aggressive because of sexual maturity. Just about everything, especially males, will set him off. If you have un-neutered male dogs in the house it will bring out his territorial aggression. It is unusual that he bites you, because males usually will allow only one handler, usually a female, but it is probably the other animals that are setting him off.

Neutering may help. Release would be tough and would have to be done very gradually on his terms. If you move him outside too quickly without being a support system for him, he will get very depressed because he will feel abandoned by you. He will go on a hunger strike and become even more difficult to manage.

If you are convinced to keep him, neutering would probably be the best all the way around. It would get rid of the testosterone that causes most of the aggressiveness, but I don't know if there would be any residual resentment. I've never had a male neutered, so I cannot speak with any authority on that.

Bill

Reply

Michele

07/11/2014 4:20am

Hi,
There is a squirrel in my yard who appears to be in rough shape. First I noticed scratches on his back (looked like bloody cuts) so I assumed he was attached by an animal. But when i got closer, I noticed he was missing a bunch of hair and his skin appeared wrinkled and hard. Should i try the treatment on your site, and how do you get him to take the nut? As he runs from me.
Thanks.

Sounds like the squirrel has mange, and would benefit from treatment. Is it the only squirrel to visit your yard, or are there a bunch of others? I would observe it for a few days to see what it's habits are. Just put out some untreated foods to see when it comes to visit and eat. Once you start to see it's patterns of activity, it should be fairly easy to know when to put out a treated nut meat.

On the day you treat, just put out a treated nut, then watch to see who comes to get it. If it's mangy boy, problem solved. If it's another squirrel, no problem, you've helped them get rid of their fleas and lice for a while. Keep putting out a treated nut until you see the one with mange come and eat it. Then, repeat the process once a week for a couple weeks.

There is a way to get a squirrel to take food from you, but it takes some time. If you go out and sit in your yard, and when you see a squirrel, toss some food in their direction while making a sound that gets their attention. Whenever you toss food in their direction, and they find the food, they will start to make the association of food with the sound you are making. Soon they will start to come when they hear you making that sound, and will start to associate food with you being the source. As you continue this behavior, they will come closer and closer to you, the source of food. Before long, they will be up close, and you will be able to get food to specific squirrels.

My neighbor learned this when she would go out and have her morning coffee on her back porch. She would toss peanuts to the squirrels in her back yard. I told her at that time that she was going to create some monsters. Long story, short, she has a couple of squirrels now that follow her around her yard like puppies and even know what pocket she carries nuts in because they try to climb up her leg to get to her left pocket. She told me she put them in "time-out" the other day when they tried it while she had shorts on! :>)

Bill

PS. I'll get your order out today.

Reply

bev

07/24/2014 7:02pm

i have written to you before. I have a 16 month old male gray squirrel that is getting fixed soon. He and I are really just getting know each other. We play alot but I do work. He has a good size and lots of toys. He let out a whistle the other day that took me by surprise. Sounded like when you let air out of a balloon. came from his nose ,whiskers shook. Never heard this before. Just wondering what it might have meant . He wasn't agitated or upset. When i do it to him he freezes in place, but doesn't seem to upset him. Have you ever heard it? Thanks. Just curious.

Your boy is discovering his ability to make varied vocalizations. I know the sound you are describing, and it is completely normal, I've heard it many times. I've identified a half dozen vocalizations that squirrels make that range from whistles, grunts, purrs, chucks, and several other sounds . I believe that there are other sounds they make that are unique to breeding season. We are now in the late season breeding time, (June/July,) and it is possible, since your boy is now sexually mature, that the whistle you heard was in response to him getting a whiff of a female in estrus.

I know that before our girl, Lucky had her hysterectomy, I had to be very careful taking her outside for her walks during breeding season. She would be perfectly fine, then all of a sudden would go ballistic, chucking and alerting and running all over my body. I would have to grab her before she had a chance to do laps of my head, and hold her until we moved further on in our walk. My theory was that she would get a whiff of a turned-on male, and that would instantly send her in to a mating chase mode. Instinctively, she knew that she had to run, because a female squirrel leads a mating chase where all interested males have to chase her for the privilege of mating. This chase continues until all but one or two males are left,( the others all dropped off from exhaustion.) This insures that the female mates with the strongest males, thereby keeping the gene pool healthy.

Then again, maybe your boy was thinking about what "getting fixed" would entail! :>)

Bill

Reply

Shannon

07/25/2014 8:24pm

Hi Bill. There is a squirrel that comes around my work. Everyone thinks he has mange. Upon reading the info on your site, I'm beginning to think it may be fungal. It's missing all of its fur on its head and shoulders and most of its gone down its back. There looked like there was a dry white patch on the top of his neck that I saw him scratching at a few times. I'm trying to find an organization that will take it and rehabilitate it and release it but, if I can't find anyone to take it, then I would like to know what I could do. Someone has apparently been feeding it for a long time because he starting coming around about a year or two and he will sit at the door of the business at just look in and he will follow you to your car or to the door of the business. I saw one guy making a delivery actually hand feed it. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks

Reply

Shannon

07/25/2014 8:28pm

Forgot to add that it looks more like the second pic atop this page of the squirrel with a fungal infection except all of its skin that is exposed is very dark in color, not pink or flesh tone. (Not sure it that means anything or not).

I could better advise you if you could get a good close-up picture of the squirrel and send it to me at SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com.

Trying to trap even a friendly wild squirrel is not a good idea. When they are suddenly confined in a small space they panic, and often will hurt themselves badly, even to the point of fracturing facial bones trying to escape by ramming their face into the sides of the trap. Trapping squirrels requires a lot of careful post-trapping care to minimize panic. Even successfully getting them to a rehab facility, would not guarantee a successful outcome.

You would be better off treating him or her on a local basis. The fact that the squirrel is friendly is a big plus! It means that you could successfully treat him or her either with medication or nutritionally.

I think I would go ahead and try Ivermectin whether or not it is Mange. If it is not mange, you have at least given it a temporary reprieve from it's fleas and lice.

Nutritionally, I would give it a Nut Square or two every day and try to get some chunks of raw coconut oil in it, and start a daily feeding of raw coconut in the shell. Good coconut oil and raw coconut contain some very important acids, ( Lauric Acid and Capric Acid,) both of which will kill bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The anti-fungal effect is what you would be wanting, and the anti-bacterial effect would help prevent any infection from scratching. Coconut oil is a solid below 76 degrees, and a liquid above that temperature. It might be hard trying to feed chunks of it if it is warm outside. In warm weather, I mix coconut oil with pecan meal and a little baby rice cereal as a binding agent to form little balls of coconut oil and pecans to get them to eat the coconut oil. Some squirrels, ( like my Lucky,) will eat coconut oil straight, while some squirrels won't touch it alone. The best oil is extracted from fresh coconut meat by a centrifuge process with a minimum of heat. It has the highest levels of the vital acids mentioned.

I would also start feeding raw avocado every day. Squirrels love it, and the Omega fats in avocados are great for skin and coat. I wish you could feel the fur of my resident girl squirrel, Lucky. She has had avocado every day for the past two years and she feels like a mink. Her tail is the biggest, bushiest and beautifully variegated colors of any squirrel you have ever seen. I attribute it to avocado, because for the first 4 years we had her, her fur was mediocre, and her tail was always kind of thin.

I think if you did these things, you would see a vast improvement in this squirrel over the next month or two!

The discoloration of the skin is probably due to direct exposure to sunlight. Our skin changes color,( either red or brown,) when we expose it to direct sun. Hair normally protects the squirrel from the effects of the sun.

Hope this helps!

Bill

Reply

christina

07/29/2014 8:10am

Wondering if you could give me some advice, I have a young looking black squirrel hanging around that has some growth around his eyes and on his legs . I'm trying to make friends to get a better look, hes currently eating from around the bird feeder what do you suggest I put out to try to gain trust. I've only come about 10' from him put some seed down and backed away he went right for it after I moved away

It could be a number of things. Two that are more common are skin infections or Squirrel Pox. So, if you could get a good picture it would help.

My e-mail address is: SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com

Bill

Reply

Berenice Borges

08/02/2014 1:04pm

I've just ordered the invermectin but I have a few doubts..The squirrels in my backyard look like they have mange..some spots are hairless , red and with what looks like scabs..In can't get closer enough to see because they are really wild and they run away..I've counte like 8 of them coming here all the time because I put food for the birds and they eat it. How can I be sure that they are not eating more than one dose of the medicine in just one day??? I can't watch them to know which one is eating the nut with the medicine.

What you are asking is a common problem that I am frequently asked, so I've put it down for a future Blog topic.

Treating wild squirrels is a problem when you cannot get them to come close enough to insure that they each get a weekly dose.

For people who have established a personal feeding arrangement with their squirrels, and have multiple squirrels that show up, I tell them to pick a convenient day, and feed a treated nut meat to as many as show up together on that day. Once fed, they should stop for a week and look for results. You may not see much the first week other than less redness and less scraching.

In one week, you repeat the process, feeding as many as show up at once, making sure they each get one, then stop again for another week.

The next week, you take some untreated nuts with you to keep the improved squirrels occupied, while you feed the treated ones to the squirrels that look like they either still have mites, or are only slightly improved.

They keep repeating this weekly process until all the squirrels have been given a couple doses and are improving, and hair is actually growing back in the bald areas.

In your case, you will be doing something similar, only with a couple modifications. In your case, the idea will be to decrease the amount of Ivermectin you place on each nut meat, ( about the equivalent of half a drop.) If you have 8 squirrels, do about 10 nut meats with Ivermectin.

Instead of putting them on or around your bird feeder, take them around your property and stick them in the bark of trees you see squirrels frequenting. If you know trees that contain leaf nests, (Drays,) or dens, put one nut meat on those trees. The idea is to spread out the treated nuts far enough, that the chances of a single squirrel finding more than two treated nut is greatly reduced. Since they have half doses, it won't make any difference if an affected squirrel does find and eat two. It wouldn't even overdose them to eat three, but the chances of that happening are greatly decreased by spreading out the treatment.

Squirrels have a very keen sense of smell and the bulk of their time during summer and fall is spent looking for food and keeping their Drays and dens fixed up for the coming winter. You can smear a little peanut butter on the nut meat to make it a little more fragrant, but it is not really necessary.

Just like I mentioned above, you do this weekly and watch for results. It may take a little longer, but for now, it's the best you can do when you cannot feed them directly.

Many people ask what will happen if a non-affected squirrel eats one? The answer is that you will be temporarily reducing the number of fleas and lice they always carry. So, you will actually be doing them a favor.

When you have the time, it is fairly easy to get squirrels to approach and accept food from you. I don't normally recommend peanuts, but peanuts in the shell are easy to throw. Go out and have a morning cup of coffee or juice every morning and take a couple dozen unroasted peanuts in the shell. When you see a squirrel, get their attention by making a specific sound, a soft whistle, even a clicker works, some unique, repeatable sound. Always use the same sound. When they look your way, throw a peanut in their direction. Squirrels are quick learners and very observant of things happening around them and what is happening to other squirrels. Food is one thing they are insanely jealous of, and once they make the connection of the sound that you are making, with food being thrown in their direction, they will start congregating in the area and start competing for the tossed peanuts.

This will lead to them moving closer and closer to you in the hope of you tossing one directly to them. As long as you are in a relaxed, non-threatening posture, ( preferably sitting,) it won't be long before they will be waiting for you to come out for their daily feeding. The bolder ones will eventually even take them from your hand. While the less bold will move in closer less they lose out on getting their share. Before long, you will have them all within easy toss distance, and you will be able to individually treat them in the future if the need arises.

Be careful the first time you hand feed a squirrel. Do it with an open palm. Squirrels are non-aggressive animals, but they do move quickly, especially when taking food from you for the first time. It is a natural reaction to pull away when a squirrel quickly darts to your hand to retrieve a nut. A squirrels bite in this situation is almost always the fault of the human rather than the animal. The reason is, the placement of a squirrel's eyes on their head, gives them 180 degree vision. They can see predators approaching from behind without turning their head. The problem with this type of vision, is that they are unable to see things right in front of their nose. Once they zero in on an object and move in to grab it, they can get it with pinpoint accura

Sorry, I didn't know I was limited on the number of words I could put in a reply!

pinpoint accuracy. The problem for newbies to hand feeding squirrels is that the sudden movement of the squirrel scares them, and they reflexively move their hand. If your finger or hand is in the same location the nut was in when they made their move, they might accidentally bite you. It was not their intent, they would have had the nut in a flash and moved away to eat it, but because of the movement, their target was no longer there.

The good news is, a squirrel bite from a normal healthy squirrel never triggers a rabies protocol. I've been bitten numerous times, almost always because of my own fault, and I've never had even deep bites get infected. And I've had them go through tendon and even to the bone of my fingers. For some reason, a squirrel's mouth is very clean.

And that the story about treating mangy squirrels!

Bill

PS. Mange will not kill a healthy squirrel, it just make them look bad, and miserable from scratching.

Reply

Berenice

08/05/2014 7:44am

Thank you very much..That was all I needed to know..

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bev

08/10/2014 8:58am

well tomorrow is the big day for my squirrel(Fred). He is getting fixed. He got me another good one yesterday. I really hope this calms him down . I misses playing and interacting with him. When he starts chattering I can't get him out! He hikes he backside and lowers his head to me.Chattering the whole time! I don't get it. Luckily the bites don't get infected, but they sure hurt from being so deep. Guess I just needed some reassurance that this might work. Thanks!

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Chantelle Smit

08/12/2014 7:53am

Hi there

I hope you can help me,i live in South Africa and i have a girly,she is now 1yr old,we bought her from a breeder,but i did not receive any diet guidlines etc,but she has been doing very well untill recently.

About a month ago i went to her cage to take her out and she looked dead!i took her out and notices that she is breathing,i put her on a warm blanket and started feeding her with a bottle and within 2hrs she was herself again.i changed her diet thinking she did not receive enough nutrition,but a few week later this happened again!Today this happened for a 3rd time now and she also bit her tail off,she bit it in half!Please please can anyone help with advice?Information about them as pets are not really available here.

You certainly have an interesting and unfortunate set of symptoms you are presenting. I'm not exactly sure what is going on with your squirrel, but I can make some suggestions.

Self-mutilation, such as the extreme you describe of biting the tail off, is usually due to intense itching. The squirrel is driven so crazy by the itch that they go to any length, including mutilating themselves in an attempt to make it go away. Here in the US, two things can make that happen, mange and skin/hair fungus. With the scabs you are describing, my guess would be a form of mange.

Since you are able to handle the squirrel, my recommendation would be to try a drop of puppy flea drops on the back of the neck.
If it has mange, this will kill the itch mites and make the skin condition go away.

My guess on the lethargy that is made better by feeding, is that the squirrel is wore out from dealing with this condition. Imagine yourself itching so bad that it drove you to mutilate yourself. You would probably be up all night scratching and being driven nuts to the point of never getting any sleep.

If you have a veterinarian that could examine the squirrel, it might be a good idea. He or she could check to see if the skin condition is mites, would be able to prescribe something for the mites and the itch and deal with any infection the squirrel might have as a result of it's wounds.

If you do not have a Vet that will see the squirrel, write me back at SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com, and I will try to give you some help on home treatments.

Bill

PS If your squirrel is kept in an outside cage, you need to completely clean, disinfect and change the bedding for the squirrel in the event that it is mites.

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Chantelle Smit

08/13/2014 1:02am

In addition to my comment,it also looks like she has scabs on her front paws.
Please help me

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Chantelle Smit

08/13/2014 1:02am

In addition to my comment,it also looks like she has scabs on her front paws.
Please help me

Reply

Chantelle Smit

08/13/2014 1:02am

In addition to my comment,it also looks like she has scabs on her front paws.
Please help me

Reply

chantelle smit

08/13/2014 8:27am

Hi Bill

Thank you so much for your reply!This is the first real advice i have received since she started getting sick.
She does not live in an outside cage,i hand reared her and Could never get it over my heart to let her sleep outside.

I took her to the vet this afternoon (the vet is not very familiar with squirrels but willing to help and find the problem).She contacted another vet and she said that the scabs and swollen front paws and the facts that she bit off her tail seems to her that there is a problem with her blood supply and that this can be caused by sugar levels (from what i understand diabetes) or heart disease.
I have to take her for a heart sonar tomorrow as well as blood tests,the vet does not seem to think its a skin disease because she is not scratching and its only on the front paws,they seem puzzled by what wrong with her.

I will keep you posted on what is happening and again thank you so much!If you don't mind can i send you some photos of what her paws look like?

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chantelle smit

08/13/2014 8:28am

Hi Bill

Thank you so much for your reply!This is the first real advice i have received since she started getting sick.
She does not live in an outside cage,i hand reared her and Could never get it over my heart to let her sleep outside.

I took her to the vet this afternoon (the vet is not very familiar with squirrels but willing to help and find the problem).She contacted another vet and she said that the scabs and swollen front paws and the facts that she bit off her tail seems to her that there is a problem with her blood supply and that this can be caused by sugar levels (from what i understand diabetes) or heart disease.
I have to take her for a heart sonar tomorrow as well as blood tests,the vet does not seem to think its a skin disease because she is not scratching and its only on the front paws,they seem puzzled by what wrong with her.

I will keep you posted on what is happening and again thank you so much!If you don't mind can i send you some photos of what her paws look like?

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Chantelle Smit

08/14/2014 10:52pm

Hi there

I am so sorry for all the duplicate messages, I keep getting an error that my post is not submitted, but seems is actually is.

Just an update on my baby.
So I took her for the tests etc, turns out she has an enlarged fatty liver which is genetic. Dr says there is not much that we can do about this, she gave her an injection of some sort to help the liver and this has to be repeated on Monday.
As for the tail and the paws, the Dr says that it seems at some point she "froze" (apologies for the bad translation) if I understand correctly she had frost bite and that's why she bit off half of her tail, same story with her front paws, but there is a chance that her paws can heal as there seems to be blood flow there,but she can't say for sure.
She says that even though she loses the "fingers" on her front paws she will be able to function normally.

My baby does not seem like her self, she is the opposite of what she usually is, she does not even get out of her pouch to greet me.
I am really worried about her, I don't know if she is suffering, I feel so helpless.

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Chantelle Smit

08/14/2014 10:53pm

Hi there

I am so sorry for all the duplicate messages, I keep getting an error that my post is not submitted, but seems is actually is.

Just an update on my baby.
So I took her for the tests etc, turns out she has an enlarged fatty liver which is genetic. Dr says there is not much that we can do about this, she gave her an injection of some sort to help the liver and this has to be repeated on Monday.
As for the tail and the paws, the Dr says that it seems at some point she "froze" (apologies for the bad translation) if I understand correctly she had frost bite and that's why she bit off half of her tail, same story with her front paws, but there is a chance that her paws can heal as there seems to be blood flow there,but she can't say for sure.
She says that even though she loses the "fingers" on her front paws she will be able to function normally.

My baby does not seem like her self, she is the opposite of what she usually is, she does not even get out of her pouch to greet me.
I am really worried about her, I don't know if she is suffering, I feel so helpless.

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bev

09/14/2014 6:16am

August 11 ,2014 I had my male squirrel fixed. He had gotten so mean I couldnt get near him. Vet said to leave him alone except to feed and water him, I did. He said it would take about one month for hormone to get out of his system. He has been very calm and loving,till today. He started chattering and growling again. I went to cover my face and he nailed me good again!! I was sitting in a chair in his room letting him run around. His cage( 65x48x24) is in my daughters room while she at college. I was watching tv. He has access to all his food that i have for him so he pick and choose what wants to eat. Acorns, black walnuts, buckeyes, and smalls nut from pear tree in our yard. He jumped on my head and thats all it took! Whats up?? Will he ever settle down? Thanks!

I'm kind of at a loss as to what to tell you, because I have never kept or had a neutered male before. It's too bad that you didn't have him neutered before he hit sexual maturity, because he never would have missed what he never had.

I do have a couple suggestions.

#1. Take away the acorns. They are loaded with tannin and that is like "speed' for squirrels. It where the term "Squirrily" came from, and it makes a squirrel very hyper.

#2. Get some Brewer's Yeast tablets. ( Wal Mart has them in their Vitamin section for $3.00 to $4.00 for a bottle of 100.) Crush one up and mix it with a tablespoon of peanut butter. Spread some on a couple of nut meats and feed it to him every day. Brewer's yeast is loaded with natural B vitamins and they are very calming to the nervous system. I always give my animals a dose of brewer's yeast about an hour before taking them to the Vet. It keeps them calm. Also good to counter fleas.

#3.Start feeding a few soybeans, ( raw if you can get them.) Soybeans have phyto-estrogens in their oil. That's a female hormone that will counter any residual testosterone you squirrel may be retaining. Female squirrels are very non-aggressive because of their estrogens. The only time they get a bit moody is during breeding season.

Hopefully, these suggestions will help calm you boy down. If not, consult your Vet about other possible solutions.

Keep me posted as to whether it works so that I can help others with the same problems.

Bill

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Hrriet

09/18/2014 2:41pm

All summer I saw half a dozen squirrels in my yard and enjoying my bird feeders:) For some reason now I am now seeing only one :( and this one seems to act fine, climbs the feeder pole, eats the food and peanuts that I leave on the ground. My concern is the areas on its fur that look like light-color patches. From what I can see these areas do not look red. I wondered what I might do (if anything) to help improve this condition. Is there a way to send a photo to you? Thanks for any suggestions. (I read the article in the blog about mange, but I don;t think that's what this is.) Thanks for any suggestions.

My guess is that the squirrel probably has dermatophytosis, a hair fungus. It's usually self-limiting and the squirrel's immune system will ultimately overcome it. Good nutrition is all that is needed.

Bill

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Dawn Tyer

09/23/2014 9:00pm

I need help. I do wildlife rehab and in my 7 years have never seen what is happening to my babies. Their skin looks like it is pilling off and their hair is gone. One is developing sores. I have reintroduced milk to their diet and have them on clavamox. What do I do?!?

What were you feeding before introducing milk? And what is the Clavamox treating?

Bill

PS You can contact me direct at SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com

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Evelyn R Hill

09/24/2014 2:20pm

I have a wild squirrel that has a skin disease but not like your photographs, can you email me so I can send a photograph.

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Tonya Clark

09/26/2014 6:11am

I am so happy to have found this site. DeeDee is 3/12 years old and is an exclusively indoor squirrel (although, I would love to transition her to outdoor but don't think she would do well since she has not been outside since she was about 3 months old). She recently has acquired a large open wound on her hind leg that she nonstop is digging at. It looks raw and crusty around the edges. I don't know what has caused it and it just seems to be getting worse. The only other time she had this was when I rehabed a male squirrel and he became very dominate. After I released him, her sores healed up so I assumed they were stress related. I will try the coconut oil tonight but she thinks it is a treat and will probably just chew more into her leg because of it....which is also why I don't put much of anything else on it as well. Do you think the Ivermectin paste would help her?

Could you send me a picture of her wound, ( as clear as possible so I can get a good look at it.) It would help immensely in how to advise you on it.

It's OK if your squirrel eats the coconut oil, in fact, if she likes it, start feeding her as much as she wants. As long as it is raw and non-hydrogenated, it contains over 50% Lauric and Capric acid which has been found to be anti bacterial, anti viral and anti fungal. If it is an open wound I would soak it in warm salt water or Epsom Salt, and spray it frequently with Ionic Silver and give the squirrel a quarter cc of Ionic silver twice a day or put 10cc of it in it's water bottle or dish.

You can send the picture to SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com, plus you can communicate directly with me through that e-mail address instead of having to go through this blog.

Hi, William
My squirrel 7-8 months also have small lice or ticks in its tail end the hair has been lost. Suggest a shampoo for bath. And the percentage of medicine of ivermeotin 6mg. Please let me know your email I'd so that I can send you snaps.

If you have the squirrel in your possession, simply give it a flea bath with animal flea soap or Blue Dawn dishwashing liquid. Then, put one drop of kitten flea drops on the back of it's neck.

If it's lice, you can obtain a Nit Comb at any pharmacy to come out the little egg sacks or Nits.

Ivermectin should only be used on wild squirrels that you are unable to handle because dosing can be a little tricky.

That should take care of it!

Bill

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bev

09/28/2014 1:22pm

Well it has been two weeks since I started Fred( my fixed male ) on soybeans and brewers yeast. So far real good! He still is VERY active but not aggressive. He hasn't chattered at me orbit me. He has always taste tested me since he was very young. Some hurt a little some don't. No bites thru the skin tho! I still get a little nervous around him, fear of being bit. He's upstairs in his cage whistling that high pitch sound now. Guess hes talking to the outside squirrels. Windows are open in his room as long as its nice out. I want THANK YOU very much for all your help. I will keep in touch as we go along with Fred.

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bev

10/04/2014 5:50am

well its been a week since i wrote to you. This am he started showing some aggression again. Last nite he was putty in my hands! He was laying on his back in my left hand and I was rubbing scratching every part of his body. Not today!!!! His diet is buckeyes, black walnuts, soybeans, frozen mulberries from my trees, avocado, coconut, hickory nuts, almonds,peanut butter laced with brewers yeast. He didn't bite, just started chattering and got REAL clingy like he used to do before a bad bite. I had to put in back in cage carefully. Thanks Bev

Can dogs get diseases from squirrels? I have hundreds of birds eating out of my feeders but the squirrels look so bad that I took the feeders down. I did so enjoy seeing the birds feed, I'm concerned for the safety of my dogs, the squirrels have hair missing and terrible sores, Please advise

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Allie

10/11/2014 11:48am

Hi Bill
We rescued a baby squirrel about 2 weeks ago (estimated she is around 7/8 weeks now)--she has been doing great with fox valley formula and some soft foods but lately we have noticed that her toes are looking raw/hairless...they are not crusty so I wasn't sure if it's from her licking her toes excessively after eating or if its mites or mange. I ordered the paste from your website recently to be on the safe side, but Id rather not apply it to her feet without getting a better idea of whats going on. Since we noticed the raw toes, we are diligent about cleaning her feet with all natural baby wipes after feeding, which seems to be helping a bit, but not really healing enough to be noticeable. Please give me your thoughts!
Allie

I wish you had written before ordering the paste, (Ivermectin.) I need to go back and revise my "Skin Diseases in Squirrels" Blog to include a section on treating mites in juvenile vs adult squirrels. Ivermectin should be used only on adult, wild squirrels and not babies. The reason is because the dosing for babies is so miniscule, that it is nearly impossible to figure dosage.

If you have already used it on your baby, don't worry, an adult dose won't kill it, but it can make it very lethargic and cause some intestinal upset, and possibly increased itching. If you have given the baby a dose, I guarantee that your baby does not have any more mites. But, what it may have is itching and irritation to its toes, causing it to nibble on them more causing the hair to be pulled out. Don't worry, the hair will grow back, but don't give it any more Ivermectin!

To treat babies with mites or Mange, it is much safer to use one drop of kitten flea drops on the back of the neck. It will kill the mites as effectively as Ivermec, without any side effects.

Start feeding your squirrel a couple small chunks of Avocado everyday. The oils in this fruit are great for skin and coat.

If I had the squirrel, I would spray the feet daily with Ionic Silver and apply raw coconut oil, and offer a small chunk of the hardened oil, or feed raw coconut out of the shell everyday. (A tip on raw coconut: When you break open and take out the fresh coconut meat, cut it into squirrel sized chunks and place it in a freezer bag in the freezer. Get out daily what you will use, and keep the rest frozen. Otherwise it will get real slimy, and lose the good stuff if it sits in the refrigerator!)

Another consideration is what you have in the bottom of the cage. Do not use cedar chips. The oil in the cedar is irritating to the squirrel's skin, and ingestion of the cedar wood can make them sick, and even kill them.

Squirrels have also reacted to news print ink, especially colored ink. When they urinate on it, and walk through it, they can pick up some of the ink and then deposit it around their body through scratching.

I use the disposable cloth towels that we used to get in disposable suture packs to line the bottom of my blind squirrels' cage. When they get soiled, we shake them out and put them in a bucket with ammonia water. Periodically, we run a load of just these towels so we always have a fresh, clean supply to line her cage.

Hope this helped!

Bill

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Allie

10/12/2014 1:37pm

Bill,
Could you please email me the dos an do nots list for squirrel food--it would be super helpful as she gets older and weaned off the formula--thank you! -Allie

First I would need to know what you are feeding. I'm not real familiar with the Palm Squirrel since we don't have any in our hemisphere, but most rashes can usually be attributed to allergy to something they are eating, or, contact dermatitis, something they are coming in contact with that is causing skin irritation and rash.

Here in the US people sometimes put cedar wood chips in the bottom of their squirrel's cage. The oil in the wood is irritating to squirrel's skin and will cause them to break out in a rash.

Since your squirrel has stopped eating, and has developed a rash, my guess is that it is something it is eating. Whatever it is, may be making it sick to it's stomach and would explain the loss of appetite.

Also, look to see what it may be gnawing on. Squirrels have to chew on hard objects to keep their teeth wore down. Possibly, something it is gnawing on may be making it sick.

Other than that,the only other thing would be to have it evaluated by a Veterinarian.

Hi Bill,
Thank you for your blog. I have read a bit on your site and on here and I think I know what issue we are facing and what to do, but I wanted to be sure and see if you would be on the same page.
We live in South Florida. We have a lot of squirrels in our neighborhood, it's pretty cut off... one way in and one way out. So, our squirrels are generally our squirrels. Anyway.. we had one visit us today. We noticed right away that she was missing a LOT of fur. This is the first time I have ever seen her or this condition in our neighborhood. I did not see any open, red or infected wounds on here, but her skin was rough and dry and wrinkly looking. Almost like a big scab texture. She ate right out of my hand and was VERY hungry. But I also noticed she seemed lethargic. After she ate she did climb up into a tree and took a nap in the sun. I lost track of her after she woke up, but I did notice that she seemed itchy. She was quite friendly and at one point I thought about trying to catch her, but decided against it since I wouldn't know what to do with a wild squirrel once I got her. I read that it could be mange... and from the photos on google... that does look like her skin. With the skin fungus, would the skin look like eczema/SUPER dry skin, flaky? Or would they just loose their fur and would their skin still be smooth? Thank you so much for your help.

It would help greatly if you could send me a picture of what the squirrel looks like, ( the closer the better.)

It would not hurt to go ahead and treat the squirrel like it had mange with a touch of Ivermectin. Sometimes lethargy is caused by mites, because they are blood sucking insects. If a squirrel has them long enough, they can make it slightly anemic and that makes them tire easily.

Even if it is not mites, you will help temporarily rid the squirrel of fleas, lice and intestinal parasites.

I would start feeding it avocado daily. The oils in the avocado are great for skin, hair and energy. A daily Nut Square would be great also to provide vitamins and calcium. Write to my e-mail address and request the recipe,( SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com)

Bill

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Judy Hagenbuch

11/03/2014 7:11am

Hi Bill, I live in Michigan and for years have had big, healthy squirrels at my bird feeders. I love watching both the squirrels and the birds and enjoy feeding them. Lately I've noticed less squirrels and a few of them don't look healthy. One has no hair on his/her tail at all, another one has most of his/her hair missing all over it's body and most of the hair on the tail it's gone. I haven't seen the one with no hair on it's tail at all for awhile now. I don't clean the bird feeders. I put black oiler sunflower seeds and cracked corn in them. Am I causing the problem with the squirrels by not cleaning the feeders? I can't catch and treat my squirrels, they are not tame and if I did put a live trap out under the tree I might catch a skunk, a racoon a woodchuck or even a possum. I look at the one without his hair and my heart just breaks, he looks awful and he must be very sick. I do not see any red, crusty sores on his body so think it's not mange but more likely dermatophytosis from what I read above. I feel bad that I can't help them but also concerned about what's causing the squirrels to be sick. Can you please help me. Thank you, Judy

it's always hard to see squirrels in this condition. Not being able to see the squirrels, I can only speculate on what is going on. You could try a dose of Ivermectin just to see if it is a mite problem. It won't hurt them, in fact you would be temporarily ridding them of fleas, lice and intestinal parasites.

Excessive salt intake will cause thinning of hair in squirrels. Even if you are not feeding salty foods, someones else may be. Squirrels do make their rounds.

I treat Dermatophytosis with good nutrition, because it's their immune system that ultimately rids them of the fungus.

Sorry I can't be of more help!

Bill

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bev

11/15/2014 6:25am

well I have added english walnuts and hazelnuts to Freds diet. He is a 2 year old fixed male. Was very aggressive before surgery, has calmed down alot. Two weeks ago added the other nuts to keep his teeth trim.He hides the little nuts but eats the big ones. Today he is chattering again and grabbing my hand tight. What nut might be bringing on this? I read in one of your letters that almonds are a no no? Would appreciate any suggestions Thanks!

Are you feeding any acorns? Acorns are like Meth Amphetamines for squirrels and make them very aggressive.

Other than that, even fixed animals can have their ups and downs.

I have a 6 year old blind female, Lucky, who is fixed and the most laid-back, mild mannered squirrel you ever met. But sometimes, when I have her out in public, she'll go berserk and start running all over me and doing what I call "dray chucking." It's an alarm sound that squirrels make that starts with a long draaaaaa, followed by a chuck, chuck, chuck.

What sets her off? I have no idea, but speculate that it is a scent she picks up in the air that sets her off.

You'll just have to do a little detective work and see if you can make any association between what is being fed, and this type of behavior. But, always keep in mind that you may never find out!

Bill

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bev

11/16/2014 11:56am

Thanks for ur quick response about Fred. Today is seems fine. He DOES NOT like any different smells. Agitates him very much! He seems to like to sit and do a high pitch whistle slowly let out. Are almonds in the shell ok? he has eaten them for a long time. just curious.. Fred does the same sound too that ur Lucky does, for no reason. I don't take Fred out tho. He's a one person squirrel. Again thank u so much for ur help!!!

Almonds are OK for squirrels, in or out of the shell doesn't matter. A misconception about nuts is that they make up the main diet of a squirrel. When in reality, nuts should only be a treat, but not a main food source. Another source of agitation in squirrels can be a physical problem, IE., if they don't feel good. Make sure he is not having urinary problems or constipation such as increased urinating or dragging his butt across the bottom of his cage. One thing I've found that calms squirrels, or any animal down, is Brewer's yeast. We put it in our mixes for the natural source of B vitamins. The B vitamins are very calming to the nerves. Whenever I have trouble sleeping, I'll get up and take 5 or 6 tablets of Brewer's yeast and I'll be asleep in a half hour or less.

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Linda J Sardou

11/26/2014 10:55am

I noticed my squirrels ears on the outer edge appears to be missing fur. Her fur on the rest of her looks ok. Is this something to be concerned about?

I released her back in mid September. The weather here is starting to get very cold.

I wouldn't worry about it.? My six year old female nibbles her toes in the winter and is missing fur on a couple of them. They just itch, so she nibbles.

Our rehab squirrels set up their pecking order in the cage they are in. One of the things they do is nip out fur on each other in their little spats. It's possible that the fur may be missing due to one of these squirrel arguments. I've had release squirrels come home with little pieces of their ears missing from some of these spats. These ear notches are one way that I am able to tell who is who! :>)

I would just keep an eye on it and wait and see.

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Maria

12/04/2014 7:21am

Hi! Bought some Invermectin (apple flavored paste) to try to treat the squirrels outside my home. I live against a forest preserve and have noticed that all the squirrels that frequent my feeders are starting to itch and many are losing fur. It is like watching the "Itchy and Scratchy" show when they all show up. They have been suffering for a few weeks. Asked my vet and he had no suggestions, so I took to the internet and found you! A few squirrels more severe patches of fur loss with redness to their skin from all the scratching. Safe to say it is mange? It is spreading among them so I figured I should do something before it spreads to the raccoons and cat that also show up frequently as well. I am thinking since it is typically a squirrely feeding frenzy when I toss peanuts into the yard, it will be tough to dose each squirrel (about 6 - 8 of them) separately with any effectiveness. Will have to be very deliberate and study them closely to tell them apart and see if I can get each to approach individually or toss a treated nut to each with accuracy so they don't fight. How dangerous is it if one squirrel gets more than one dosage?
Thanks for your help.

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Linda J Sardou

12/08/2014 10:37am

Hi William, I have a tame outside squirrel who appears to have mange. She has a 'crusty/red/and fur loss just at the nape of her neck/shoulder line. My Vet gave me some Revolution to put on her. I noticed today that it appears to be worsening and she is still scratching like crazy. I put the Revolution on her (2-3 drops) on Friday December 5th around 11:30 PM. Today is Monday, December 8th. Should I see improvement by now? If not, I had ordered some Ivemectin Paste from you a few days ago, will it hurt if I give that to her now? For the Revolution, it says to readminister again in 30 days. I don't want to add more to what she's already been given for fear of causing harm. Thank you, I would really appreciate if you can get back to me asap. I'm worried about her. She is eating and acting normal though.

Hi Linda!
I'm dreadfully sorry I did not get to your Blog comment right away. This is one of our busiest seasons of the year for squirrel products and advice e-mail, I've been up until 3:00 AM answering squirrel e-mail advice and nutrition questions. Blog questions go to my personal e-mail, but all the other e-mail comes in through SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com.

Regarding your Revolution/ Ivermectin question and the condition you are seeing. If Revolution didn't get rid of the mites, Ivermectin won't either. So the short answer is NO don't apply Ivermectin, because you are not dealing with a mite problem. I always tell people that if you have a squirrel tame enough to touch and handle, use a drop or two of flea drops like Revolution.

Now, to the question about what is going on with your squirrel. The next step should be to have your Vet try a course of antibiotics. You are either dealing with a skin infection,( which antibiotics will help,) or it is the skin/hair fungus that I describe in this Blog. Most times, squirrels don't scratch themselves raw with skin fungus, but like everything else in life, there are a few that do.

Vets have medicine for fungus, but if you research those types of medicine, you'll find that they are not good for the liver. Kind of like the commercials for Psoriasis, "Oh, my psoriasis is so much better because of Blah-Blah medication!" But, you listen to the fast talking announcer at the end of the ad and find out there is a whole long list of life threatening conditions, including cancer, that you need to talk to your doctor about.

I like to treat skin fungus naturally with nutrition. Oral and topical Raw coconut oil and topical application of Ionic Silver.

Other than that, not being able to see the squirrel and evaluate the condition of the skin, I really can't think of anything else to tell you, other than to try antibiotics next and avoid the Ivermectin for now and save it for any wild squirrels that might show up with mange looking skin conditions.

Sorry I didn't call back, it's just that when I get on the phone talking about squirrels, I lose track of time. The last call I made I was on the phone for over an hour. I've got a ton of outside work I have to get done here, and every second of daylight and the snow holding off is precious.

Keep me posted by e-mail: SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com

Bill

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Dela

12/28/2014 10:37am

Will mites or mange tranfer to my chickens? I just saw the affected squirrel go in my coop! I will fix holes and entrances today, but now what? I am very concerned about my chickens! Thanks!

Mange in squirrels are like scabies in humans. They don't transfer by casual contact. Squirrels get them from other squirrels because they sleep together when it gets cold.(They are very communal.) So, the mites transfer from warm body to warm body by direct, prolonged contact.

I doubt that the squirrel was looking to sleep with your chickens! More than likely, it was looking to get an egg to nibble the shell for calcium. Squirrels need 20 to 30 mg of calcium per day just to maintain their bones and ever growing incisors teeth.

When you get the hole fixed, it might be a good idea to keep a little pile of egg shells outside your chicken coop. If it was after egg shell it's nothing for a squirrel to gnaw a new access to the chickens and their eggs. If you provide a pile of empty egg shells, you probably won't have any more raids on your coop!.......Bill

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Shirl

01/16/2015 8:16am

We have a rescued male squirrel that we got @ 3wks. He is now 23wks and for the most part seems mostly healthy and happy.

Problem #1: He still wants his formula. He takes other foods like,
Romane Lettuce
Kale
Spinach
Chard
Cherry Tomatoes
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Brussels Sprouts
Snap Peas
Sweet Potato
Avocado
Asparagus
Celery
Rodent Blocks(Henrys)
Pecans in the shell
An occasional peanut
An occasional piece of fruit like apple, banana, frozen
fresh blue berries from our garden.
Small fresh branches from Oak, Pear, Apple, Dog Wood
and Cherry.
We tried him on fresh deer antler and he isn't interested.
Of the above he has stopped eating all but the sweet potato, rodent blocks, pecans, snap peas, avocado, limited fruit and small branches. We wouldn't be too concerned by this except that he has lost from 470grms down to 440grms and his hair has gotten very dull and there is a small place at the base of his tail (on top of his back) where the hair has come out. In addition to that spot there are a couple other small spots that it seems all the longer has come out and all that remains is the dark grey undercoat. He seems to feel good and is very active. When we turn him out to exercise (two to three times a day inside the house 1-3hrs at a time) he runs and plays like he always has occasionally stopping to clean and groom himself. As he is an inside squirrel (until his release in the spring time) he doesn't get much sunlight.

Problem #2: Lately he tends to lick a lot. It's usually our bear skin that he licks but occasionally he will also lick our clothes. It's as if he is needing something that he is not getting. He does not scratch at those areas and we have not observed any other concerns like lice etc. We have read all that we can on their nutrition and will be getting him some fresh coconut today. Aside from the coconut is there anything else that you would recommend.

Hi Shirl!
Your squirrel's diet seems adequate, but what source of calcium does he have other than his desire to continue formula? What kind of formula are you giving him?

The skin condition sounds like Dermatophytosis, which is self limiting and requires good nutrition and Immune support. You can make the diagnosis of skin/hair fungus by grasping a few hairs on the edge of a bald spot and wiggling them back and forth. If they break off, it's a fungus.

Topical application of Ionic Silver and Coconut oil pressed from fresh coconut will help, as will dissolving a capsule of Olive leaf Extract in 6cc of water and giving a drop by mouth 3 times a day.

Other than that, you need to make sure that your squirrel is getting 20 to 30 mg of good calcium per day preferably a balance of Calcium/Magnesium and some D-3 to regulate it's absorption.

If you are giving him puppy formula or other commercial formula, I would switch to a high fat formula like what we list on our website, SquirrelNutrition.com. When he was with his mother, her breast milk was up to 24% milk fat as proven by a study conducted by the Ohio State University. Most commercial formulas are made from skim milk with a bunch of useless fillers and vitamins. A high fat diet that contains good fats in their natural state are great of skin and hair health!..........Bill

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Tanya

01/18/2015 9:09am

Hi Bill I have contacted you before and bought some of your ivermectin paste for a squirrel with mange. He would not eat it, but I came home from vacation and his hair was growing back, and is almost all back now! I believe the cold weather must have killed the mites. He is however still itching a lot is that normal? I've become very fond of him and just want to make sure he's made a full recovery. Thanks!

Next time, try mixing it with a little peanut butter and spread that on the nut meat.

Bill

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Peter

02/12/2015 8:43am

Hi Bill,
I have about 10 squirrels that come to my back door for "breakfast" every morning. Most of them eat from my hand. A while back, I had treated one of my little guys, that had mange, with the ivermectin paste and it worked like a charm. This past week I noticed another little guy with fur missing from around his neck and back. It may not be mange, since I have not noticed any scabs, but I did give him a dose of the paste, just as a precaution. I just order the coconut oil and I will begin to give him some as soon as I receive it.
This is a fantastic site for all squirrel lovers !!!
Bill, I know if my squirrels could type, they would thank you for being there for them.

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Theresa

02/13/2015 10:15am

Hi Bill,

I have what I call 'bunny-squirrel" at my work that I feed on a regular basis. I call it that because it has no tail at all and honestly hops around like a bunny. A couple weeks ago I noticed quite a bit of fur missing from around its neck, two spots mainly. I assumed it got into a fight with another one. Now today I see it and there is even more fur missing :( It's on its face now and on back of its head. I've been feeding it almonds from the shell (unsalted) this week. I'm wondering if that will help it or what I can do to help this poor thing. It's going to be super cold here (MN) for the next week or two so I worry about this little guy, He's so adorable with his missing tail.

This time of year, it is probably mange. Give him a dose of Ivermectin, and I bet it will start going away and normalize.You can read about treating it here:
http://www.squirrelnutrition.com/mange-treatment-in-squirrels.html

Thanks for writing!

Bill

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Peter

02/23/2015 2:59pm

Hi Theresa,
Like Bill said, you need not to put yourself at risk of a bite if you want to treat your little outside buddy. Simply put a SMALL amount (about the size of a grain of rice) of Ivermectin onto a shelled walnet, pecan, or better yet mix with a small amount of peanut butter and put it on a cracker and try and feed it to him when no other squirrels are around. If you can do this for once a week over a three week period, your little friend should be fine.
I've treated one squirrel this past summer, and I am in the process of treating one now. It worked fine this summer and it seems to be working this time also.
If you see no change after 3 weeks, you should start to give him some of the coconut oil that Bill sells on his site. I've used that for non-mange skin issues, and my little buddy healed fine.
Hope this helps ....

Reply

Cole Swensen

02/16/2015 10:52am

Thank you so much for your attention to squirrels! We have two among our backyard troupe who look--based on your helpful photos--like they're suffering from dermatophytosis--one is completely missing all the fur on the neck and shoulders and halfway down the back and the other has tremendously thinning fur in the same places. We're concerned because we're in Rhode Island, where it's been terribly cold this winter. We will start leaving raw coconut and coat their sunflower seeds with coconut oil, but--outside of knitting them sweaters--do you have any other suggestions? Also, what is the best food? We feed them black sunflower seeds and a commercial "squirrel food" in the form of a log of pressed corn. Do you know about the pressed corn log? Is that good for them? Or is it like feeding them potato chips? Thank you so much for any advice you can give. Warmly yours, Cole Swensen

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. It's birthing season, and we are swamped with advice and recipe requests!

Avocado is probably the best warming food you could feed at this time of year for all around energy and helpfulness in skin and coat conditions.

Don't worry too much about your hairless little friends, they have a unique endothermic phenomenon that enables their body to crank up their metabolism to 4 times normal. If you and I could do that, we'd be comfortable taking cold showers and shoveling snow in our t shirts. Just keep feeding them healthy because they need good nutrition to fire that metabolic rate!

Bill

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Cole

02/17/2015 9:04am

Hi! A couple more questions for our squirrels with dermatophytosis--the only coconut we could find was "sweetened flake coconut" but I fear that might do more harm than good--it has propylene glycol as a preservative as well as sugar--but might it help while we wait for your coconut oil to arrive?
Then, when it does arrive, what's the best way to administer it? can I melt it and coat some nuts in it? What would be the best kind of nuts? I'd like to find something that the birds won't eat (we give them their own food), so that all the coconut oil is going into the squirrels.
Thanks so much!! Cole

Buy a whole coconut. Drain the milk and drink it, it's really good for you!

Crack the coconut open and either dig out the meat, or let the squirrels do it. You can't get any fresher than that! But, if the coconut milk smells funky and the meat is slimy, it's an old coconut. Take it back and ask for a fresh one!

You can spread coconut oil like butter onto nut meats. I use pecan half's because it give a nice broad surface and the grooves hold the oil well.

Bill

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Deborah Viscomi

02/17/2015 11:38am

Hi Bill, I feed my squirrels fresh coconut... I would assume that is a good thing and gives them the nutrition they need as does the coconut oil...right?
I also put out fresh avocado along with seeds, other fruit, (they seem to love grapes) rat block etc. So far so good and I'm in New England! Not easy these last couple of weeks!
Thanks for all you do!
Deborah

Yeah, you've really got hammered out there this winter. I have two daughters and a granddaughter in Springfield.

My wife and I were married in Greenfield and I went to college there.

We now own a small farm we inherited from her parents in Old Deerfield, but we live in Ohio.

Take care, and keep up the good work!

Bill

Reply

Shannon

02/26/2015 11:14am

I'm unclear on whether dermatophytosis causes itching. A few squirrels in my yard have hair loss that looks more like the dermatophytosis photos you posted than mange/mites -- no scabbing or crusting that I can see. But they are clearly being driven mad from itching. They can't take more than two steps without having to stop and scratch or chew at themselves; sometimes they almost look like they're having spasms from the itching, their whole bodies just jump and twitch. I have been putting out tons of raw coconut oil and have administered a couple of doses of Ivermectin (though not sure that both doses went to the same squirrel). The affected squirrels have bare patches on their sides and down their spine; one poor little guy, though, has almost no fur left except on his face and tail. I'd be happy to send photos if that would help. Thanks!

Yes, pictures would help. You can send them to: SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com . If you have given Ivermectin and you don't see any improvement, then it probably is the skin fungus.

I would recommend that you continue the high fat diet with raw coconut oil, because it gives them the energy they need to stay warm. Squirrels have a unique endothermic phenomenon where they can crank up their metabolism 4 times normal in cold weather. If you and I could do that, we would never turn on the furnace, we'd take cold showers and shovel snow in shorts and a T-shirt.

But.......they need fuel to keep that high metabolism going, and that is why a quality diet is important, especially in winter!

Bill

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Tyler

03/02/2015 6:36pm

my squirel has one spot he keeps itching its not bald but its a constant itch what do I do

If possible, send me a picture of the itchy area to SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com.

Bill

Reply

sherry

03/04/2015 3:41am

Please help. My baby is itchy and has lost most of the hair in the creases where his legs meet his belly. The spots were pink but didn't look scabbed, or give me reason to believe it to be mange (although I bought your product just in case). So I purchased some organic coconut oil to apply to his legs... But he won't leave them alone. Now he's biting them twice as much, and they look terribly red and inflamed, not to mention that he's now just lying around, as if it has made him sick. I don't know what to do, and there are no vets here who will see him.

Is this a baby captive squirrel? If so, you shouldn't use Ivermectin on it, because it is too hard to dose for babies. Mange is caused by itch mites that are only acquired by close contact with an affected squirrel. If your squirrel was fine, and then developed this condition in captivity, it is not mange.

More than likely it is either a fungus or a skin virus like hand, foot and mouth. Are there lots of people handling it? Because there are skin viruses that can be transmitted from humans to squirrels.

If you could send me a picture and let me know the age of your squirrel, it would help. Send picture to SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com.

It sound viral. I had another person that wrote recently with a similar problem. I suggested that they get some Olive Leaf Extract capsules and mix the content of 1 capsule in a tablespoon of peanut butter and feed a half teaspoon on a nut meat 3 times a day for 10 days.

There would be 6 doses in one tablespoon so you would need to mix up 5 tablespoons of this mix. Olive leaf extract is an excellent anti viral herb, as is raw coconut oil.

If it is viral, it should respond favorably to this treatment.

Bill

Reply

Sherry

03/05/2015 3:05am

Bill,

Thank you SO MUCH for your speedy reply. I will make this for him as soon as possible! I appreciate your help. I wish the raw coconut oil had worked out better for him, but he just wouldn't stop eating it. Now if only I can GET him to eat this. LOL

I will let you know how this goes when I finish his treatment, or if I need more advice about it. You don't know how much it means to me to have found you, since I have no vet that I can consult with. I appreciate all you do.

No one could ever truly appreciate the sweetness of this loving animal unless they have had the honor of being a "squirrel parent". Thank you for helping us to protect and nurture this wonderful baby.

Sherry

Reply

Valerie

03/21/2015 8:08pm

Bill, I live in MD and have many gray squirrels I feed daily which lately can be up to 8 or more a day and most of them are here at the same time. I've noticed a lot of them have those patchy hair loss areas and I have seen some scabs plus they do scratch. I believe it's the mites. I would love to be able to treat these wild squirrels with the medicine you suggested but since I have so many squirrels it would prove hard to keep track of which ones I gave a dose to. Is it possible to overdose? Also, is it safe to treat the ones without the skin loss patches? Please help me with a suggestion because I feel so bad for their suffering.

As long as you only treat once per week, you will not OD any squirrel.
Here is what you do: Pick a day, on that day you feed as many as you see with skin problems. Wait one week and look for improvement. Those that have improved, give a second dose. Those that have not improved, treat as a first dose. Just observe for improvement. Eventually, you will get every affected squirrel treated and on it's way to being cured. Once their hair is well on its way to growing back in, you can stop treating.

Bill

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Denise Hess

03/27/2015 10:07am

Just notice one of our wild squirrels has an hairless circular lesion the size of an half-dollar behind his front leg on his back. It has what looks like an indurated inflammed inner lesion which looks like one puncture mark. At first I thought it was Spring fighting but I've taken photos of it from afar (can't get near our Squirrels) and I'm concerned if it's communicable the other squirrels will get it. I wonder, do Squirrels get Lyme Disease? This lesion looks too perfectly circular for mange. Do you know where I can post photos of this lesion to have it identified? I'd treat this creature with anti-biotics via a peanut/peanut butter tube I have mounted. We have about 12 Squirrels we enjoy and I'd feel awful if this disorder is transmittable. Thanks for any recommendations.

You can send me the picture at SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com.
I can probably tell you what it is.

Bill

Reply

Nikki

03/31/2015 2:00am

I have lost my beloved squirrel after 9-10 years and my heart is broken I don't want to know how long squirrels live I would like to know if there is a way I could adopt an orphan squirrel. I need to have another squirrel in my life but not right now I must respect her and there must be a proper time that passes. But if the time ever comes can I get another squirrel somehow and share my love raising another baby into our home? Could you tell me how please. I don't know if my heart will ever hal. She taught me so much. I don't know what to do the grief of her loss is so great.
Sincerely Nikki

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Peter

03/31/2015 6:37am

Hi Nikki,
I am so sorry to hear about your loss .....

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Valerie

03/31/2015 6:56am

So sorry for your loss. The age sounds about right for the life span of a squirrel. Here in MD it's illegal to own a wild animal. A baby squirrel when rehabilitated should be released into the wild. It's the humane thing to do since it has instincts that I would not deny it.

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Author

William Sells is a Registered Nurse turned Squirrel Rehabber and Nutritionist. His passion is raising healthy, disease free squirrels through feeding them the right way and the treatment of common squirrel diseases. He's always open to questions and comments regarding Squirrels and their care and feeding.